MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/. The Russian ethnic group came to regions like the Kola Peninsula prior to representatives of the "indigenous" peoples, press service of the Nauka ('Science') Publishing House said at the Peoples and Cultures of Russia exhibition of scientific literature.

"Very interesting data has been found in books on the North's exploration," the press service quoted Olesya Polunina of the Moscow Arctic Library Number 77 as saying. "For example, the Russian population came to some regions earlier than representatives of indigenous peoples. For example, on the Kola Peninsula's Tersk coast, archaeologists have discovered Russian graves of the 12th century, while a significant part of the local population was recorded there much later. Take for example Komi-Izhma reindeer herders who came to the peninsula in the 19th century only."

The exhibition at the library presents books about the peoples of Russia. Most books originate from the Nauka Publishing House. The library's representative pointed to a growing scientific interest in ethno-geography.

Nowadays, scientists say, many nations are genetically diverse communities. Books on the history of Russia's peoples since the 1980s contain the idea that many ethnic groups are remnants of different genetic lines that in the ancient times or in the Middle Ages adopted the language from the invading ethnic group or the language of trade.

Striking examples are the genetically diverse Bashkirs or Evenks. Scientists say about small indigenous peoples who contain a more "variegated" genetic mixture than large peoples, such as Tatars or Belarusians.

One of the longest routes to the present habitat has been made by ancestors of the Nenets, who nowadays live in the Komi, Yamal and Taymyr Regions. One scientific theory says they came to the Arctic from the area, where the modern border with Mongolia lies. Their genetic relatives, who have a different language and a different type of management, still live in the Sayan Mountains valleys. The Nenets' ancestors were ancient farmers who went far North, where they incorporated local reindeer herding tribes, adopted their management system and became the most numerous indigenous people between the White Sea and the Yenisei River.